Fastener for display-box fronts.



A. P. URBAN.

PASTENER FOR DISPLAY BOX FRONTS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN, 28, 1910' Patented Apr. 19, 1910.

inventor: Albert, F. Urban bY Ahh'Y.

ALBERT F. URBAN, OF HIGHLAND, ILLINOIS.

FASTENER FOR DISPLAY-BOX FRONTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 19, 1910.

Application filed January 28, 1910. Serial No. 540,565.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT F. URBAN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Highland, in the county of Madison and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fastenersfor Display-Box Fronts, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification. 7

My invention relates to a fastener more particularly intended for use indetachably connecting the glass fronts of display boxes in whichcrackers, or other commodities, are offered for sale and it has for itsobject the production of fasteners of this description that may bequickly put in place to hold the box front to the body of the boxwithout the use of screws or other similar means of fastening commonlyutilized for the performance of the ofiice my improvement is intended toperform.

Figure I is a perspective view of a box with a display front appliedthereto and held by a pair of my fasteners. Fig. II is in part anenlarged elevation and in part a longitudinal section of one end of myfastener.

In the accompanying drawings :A designates a merchandise box with one ofits walls removed and to which a display front is applied. The displayfront shown comprises a lower section B in which is mounted atransparent plate C and to which is hinged at I) an upper section Econtaining a transparent plate F. The hinges at D preferably haveassociated with them springs G by which the upper section E of the boxfront is returned to a vertical position after it has been drawndownwardly for access to the box, while the lower section B remains inposition against the merchandise box, due to its being held by myfasteners, as will here inafter appear.

My box front fastener comprises an expansible and cont-ractible spring1, which is preferably of coiled type and end grip, or claw, members 2that are secured to the spring 1 at its ends. Each grip or claw memberis preferably produced from a single piece of wire bent centrally of itsends and formed into a twisted shank 3 that extends from the fold of thewire to a point intermediate between said fold and the free ends of thewire. The shanks 3 are inserted into the spring 1 at its ends to be heldthere;

in by the engagement between the coils of" the spring and the twistedshank, and to render the engagement of the coils with the shank moreperfect, I preferably groove each shank spirally, or produce screwthreads thereon, as seen at 4:, Fig. II, in which the coils of thespring 1 become seated when the shanks 3 are introduced into the spring.The free ends of the gripping or claw members 2 which extend beyond theshanks 3 are bent laterally from the shanks, thereby producing divergingarms 5. At the outer ends of the diverging arms 5 are claws 6, each ofwhich is bent at a right angle to the body of the arm'by which it iscarried, and is then bent backwardly to produce a prong 7 that extendsparallel with the spring 1. It will be noted that this constructionprovides a pair of claws with backwardly extending prongs in'eachgripping or claw member and that, when the spring 1 is extended and thenallowed to relax, the

prongs will be caused to move toward each other by the contraction ofthe spring, with the result that the prongs of each gripping or clawmember will move toward the other members of the gripping or clawmember.

hen my box front fastener is to be put into service, it is onlynecessary to place the display front, such as that shown in thedrawings, of a merchandise box at the upper side of the box, then placeone of the gripping or claw members in engagement with the rear wall ofthe box, or the portion of the box front that is to be held to the box,after which the other gripping or claw memher is moved into engagementwith the rear wall or display front, a movement that is permitted byexpansion of the spring 1, and upon the force utilized to expand saidspring being relaxed, the spring, by contraction, causes the grippingmembers to be drawn into firm engagement with both the rear wall of thebox and the box front to hold the box front to the box. It will beapparent that inasmuch as the prongs of the gripping members arepointed, said prongs are caused to become embedded in the parts againstwhich they fit, and consequently there is no liability of slippage ofthe gripping members relative to said parts, after the fastener has beenput in place.

I claim:

1. A box front fastener, comprising a spring and a pair of grippingmembers secured in the ends of said spring and each provided with a pairof claws.

2. A box front fastener, comprising a sprin and a pair of grippingmembers secured in the ends of said spring and each provided with a pairof claws, the claws terminating in backwardly extending prongs.

3. A box front fastener, comprising a coiled spring, and a pair ofgripping members having shanks seated in the ends of said spring andterminating in claws.

a. A box front fastener, comprising a spring, and a pair of grippingmembers, each having a shank seated in an end of said spring and havingdiverging arms extending from said shank and provided with claws.

5. A box front fastener, comprising a spring, of a pair of grippingmembers, each having a shank seated in an end of said spring and havingdiverging arms extending from said shank and provided with claws; theclaws being provided with rearwardly extending prongs.

6. A box front fastener, comprising a coiled spring and a pair ofgripping members each comprising a twisted shank seated in said spring,and a plurality of gripping arms extending from said shank and havingclaws extending at angles from the bodies of the arms.

7. A box front fastener, comprising a coiled spring and a pair ofgripping members, each comprising a shank seated in said spring andhaving a screw thread engaged by the coils of said spring, and a pair ofcla arms extending from said shank.

ALBERT F. URBAN.

In the presence of LOUIS KNOEBEL, CHAS. G. HAGNAUER.

